For too long the tortured Tartan Army’s mantra remained: ‘It’s the hope that kills you’.
Yet for Craig Brown - still the last man to guide Scotland to a World Cup Finals 24 years ago - the outcry that accompanied failure to reach major tournaments back in the 90s was akin to having killed someone himself.
Having qualified for five consecutive World Cups between 1974 and 1990 the nation expected - not hoped - to take it’s place at the greatest show on earth.
